Water box construction



July 23, 1940. T. E. BART WATER BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 1, 1939 fi i WhINVENTOR 0mm? EBQW/ BY 7 ATTOIY Patented July 23, 1940 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE Hi i 2,209,015

WATER BOXC'ONSTRUCTION ThomasE. Bart, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Murdock Manufacturing and Supply Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 1, 1939, Serial No. 254,056

3 Claims.

box, the, lid being swung to the open position.

Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the bottom construction of an insert or. intermediate plate constituting part of the invention.

A standard or common water service box or street flusher in broad usage comprises essentially a lid 6 and a body or box portion 1 having an apertured bottom 8 from which extends downwardly a hollow tube or case 9 through which the necessary pipes, valves, and the like are extended into the box'from a source of undergroundwater supply. The tube or case may be integral with fractured by reason of excessive strain applied in the manipulation of the locking bolt. Such con-' struction is disclosed in the Wait and Ruhstaller application herein mentioned.

The provision of a replaceable plate in accordance with the Wait and Ruhstaller teaching, while constituting a step forward in the art, presented the further difficulty of application thereof to the multitude of existing devices already in service. It was found that the insertion of a 55 Serial No. 248,454, filed December 30, 1938. the box body I, and it ordinarily includes an off- 5 v An object of the invention is to provide an imset portion I0 providing a passageway disposed provedwater box construction which facilitates near one end of the box. The box has inclined the conversion of thousands of existing standard side walls l2 and l3,and end walls I4 and I5, water boxes into thelock-lid type of box, without which flare outwardly and upwardly from the 10 requiring that the standard boxes in service be bottom 8, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 3. 1o

. dug up from theearth or brokenaway from their Where the side walls and end walls intersect, the

concrete or other permanent bases, for alteracorners may be filleted, as indicated by the chartion or bodily replacement to effect the desired acters I6. By preference, the lid includes hinge conversion. eyes I! cooperating with a hinge pin l8 and a pair Another object of the invention is to providea of apertured lugs [9 on the body of the box, for 15 water service box which is compact, yet easily achingedly mounting the lidthereon. The aperture cessible for normal or'routine repairs and adin the bottom of the'box is indicated at 20, and justments. l the passageway provided by the offset portion (0 Another object is to provide means in a water is indicated at 2l. i

service box whereby breakage due to forcing the For many years, boxes of the character gener- 20 lid lock, or from other common causes, may be ally described above were installed with and withrectified by merely replacing an inexpensive inout locking means for the lids, and in those deterior plate rather than by dismantling the entire vices which included locking means it was cusstructure and disturbing the pipe and valve contomary to cast a lug on the interior of one of the nections of the box, or possibly digging up the enside walls of the box, to act as a keeper for a 25 tire structure and substituting anew one, at a bolt that was manipulatable' exteriorly of the lid great expense anda waste of time and labor. to engage and disengage such keeper or lug. The A further object of the invention is to provide indicated arrangement Was not e y Sat acan improved lid-locking arrangement in devices tory, due to the fact that breakage of the lid lock- 3g of the character referred to; whereby the locking ing means ordinarily was caused by fracture of 30, range of the parts is materially extended, and the integral lug,so that it was necessary to make the effective life of those parts increased acthe necessary repair by digging up the entire box cordingly with a resultant service and 'replacestructure from the earth, or from a concrete base ment' cost reduction. 5 or foundation, and then replacing the entire box 3% Another object is to improve generally the structure with a new one. The labor required for locking mechanism for the lid of a water service making the replacement was considerable, due to box, with a view to increasing its security a d the fact that the boxes invariably were installed durability, and enhancing the smooth operation with the lid level with the surface of the earth, or and coordination of the parts. of a thoroughfare or the like.

4Q The foregoing and other objects are attained by To overcome the difiiculties above mentioned, 40

the means described herein and disclosed in the it was proposed to furnish a separate locking plate accompanying drawing, in which: which was inserted within the box proper, and Fig. 1 is a plan view of the water service box which plate was easily replaceable in the event with the lid thereof in closed position. that the keeper portion, then carried by the plate 5 Fig.2 is a plan view showing the interior of the rather than by the box itself, became broken or plate, and the application of the lid locking means thereto, required changes in the box portion of the device, due to the increased compactness resulting from insertion of the plate, and the changes mentioned required removal of a part of the metal constituting the box, so that it appeared preferable to replace the entire, structure initially, when converting existing plain boxes into lid locking boxes. Of course, once the change was made, the inserted plates could thereafter be replaced or substituted with each, but there was the objection to the labor and expense of making the initial change to properly adapt .the box for satisfactory installation of the first locking plate.

The various objections above mentioned have been obviated by means of the present invention about to be described.

In accordance with this invention, the insert or replaceable plate 2! is made with a locking portion 22 that is elevated above the bottom of the box, so that there is. gained sufficient space within the box, to enable application of the lid locking means without interference with the box bottom and with the depending ribs or guides 23 and 24 that must necessarily be provided at a definite predetermined spacing to accommodate certain actuating mechanism for the water supply valve, not shown. The elevating of the locking area 22, together with the fact that the available space" within the box increases in the direction of the top thereof, due to the fiared walls, has made it possible to gain sufiicient room for providing a substantial locking means incapable of interfering with the flared walls, the

bottom of the box, or the depending ribs or guides 23 and 24. .Moreover, the construction has enabled the provision of an extended locking area on the lower face 25 of the elevated keeper, so that the locking range of the parts is materially extended,and the effective life of those parts increased accordingly With a resultant service and replacement cost reduction.

It should be noted that the elevated keeper portion is provided with an aperture 26 for the reception of the locking lug 21, which lug is part of a rotatable shank or shaft 28 that extends through an apertured boss 29 of the lid. The upper end of the shaft or shank may be provided with a circular head 30 adapted to bear upon an annular seat 3| of the boss and the head may .be rotated by means of a special tool inserted into the recess 32 provided exteriorly of the head and the lid. While the recess may be of any desired shape, it is dis-closed herein as a triangular recess of enlarged proportions such that the ordinary screw driver or other common tool could not be employed for rotating the locking member. A split ring 33 or other suitable retaining 1 element may be furnished, to prevent separation of the locking member from its position upon the lid. The offset aperture or slot 34 may be provided in the hollow boss 29, as indicated, to permit replacement of the rotatable locking member upon rem-oval of the retaining element 33.

A similar slot or notch 35, offset from the aperture 26, enables disposition of the locking lug 21. beneath the elevated portion of the plate, when the locking lug is in a position of registration with said offset notch.

the lug so tightly abuts said progressively inclin- 75" ing face, that further rotation of the locking member of the lid becomes impossible. In other words, the face 25 may be considered a helical surface, as will be noted by the fact that the metal is thin at the point 36 (Fig. 4) and progressively becomes thicker about the aperture 26, to the region of greatest thickness indicated at 31. That the provision of the extended inclined keeper face is a point of decided advantage, becomes apparent upon consideration of the wear factor resulting from repeated actuation of the locking member in sweeping the lug 21 forcefully over such inclined area of the plate. A further advantage should be evident in the provision of an opening such as 2635, which is substantially the shape of the lower end of the lid locking member, whereby a bearing is provided in the plate 2| for effectively embracing the shaft -or shank 28 as it is rotated to move the lug 21 to and from the locking position. This precludes the liability of the shank to twist out of line, and

to thereby dispose the head of the locking ele-" ment to a cocked position with respect to its bearing surface 3 I. Accordingly, the head 30 will be found to remain flush with the upper surface of the lid, regardless of how tightly the locking member lug engages the inclined face 25 of the keeper portion on plate 2|.

From the foregoing, it should be evident that the lug 21 may be made sufiiciently sturdy and large, as well as sufiiciently long, to providea very substantial locking means, without having the lug to interfere in its rotational movements with either the depending guides 23 and 24, or the side or bottom portions of the box proper. Due

'to the changes of construction herein disclosed,

existing boxes not previously equipped to accept a separate locking plate may be furnished with a lid locking means including such a plate, without requiring any changes whatever in the box portion, so that the conversion is effective by merely substituting for the original lid, the type of lid herein disclosed, together with a separate locking plate such as 2!. The conversion is accomplished in a few moments, whereas in other constructions it was necessary to dig up the box, disconnect all pipes and valves leading therefrom, and either file away or grind parts of the box to make it accommodate the lid locking means, or to alternatively furnish a complete new box structure.

Because of the manner in which the elevated keeper member is formed in offset relationship to the plate 2|, its point of greatest weakness is at the offset, and the thickness of the metal is so gauged that the indicated area of the plate will fracture before any excessive rotational force applied to the rotatable locking member 28, could damage the locking member. Accordingly break-, age of the locking means will invariably be remedied by merely substituting a new plate 2|. The plate is easily renewed, as it is held against the bottom of the box by a single screw, bolt, or other fastening means 38 that extends through an openended slot 39 of the plate at one end thereof. The opposite end of the plate, at 40, may be held against the bottom of the box by means of the lug 4| formed on the end wall 15 of the box.

The openings 42 and 43 (Fig. 4) are of little concern in connection with the present invention, as they are provided for the purpose of disposing certain parts of the Valve actuating mechanism to an accessible position within the box.

What is claimed is:

1. In a service fixture of the class described, the combination which comprises a box having an spacious than the bottom portion thereof, a ro-- placeable lock plate removably fixed within and flatwise upon the bottom of the box in the region of the less spacious bottom portion thereof, guide means on the plate and extending through and beyond the aperture of the box bottorn, a movable lid for closing the top of thebox, and including a locking lug manipulatable' from a location exterlorly of thebox, said lug depending into the box a limited distance only, so as to be disposed in the more spacious region above the box bottom, and an elevated hollow boss on the plate apertured to receive the depending locking lug of the lid, said hollow boss. having an under surface progressively inclined about the plate aperture, at a distance above the box bottom, for engagement with the lid locking lug when the lid is closed upon the box.

2. In a service fixture ofthe class described, the combination which comprises a box having a bottom and upwardly and outwardly flared walls extending therefrom whereby the top portion of thebox is rendered progressively more spacious than the bottom portion thereof, a replaceable lock plate removably fixed within the box substantially flatly upon the bottom of the box, a movable lid having an edge hinged to the box for closing the top of the box, and locking means for the lid disposed adjacent to an opposed edge of the lid and including a rotatable shank extending transversely through the lid, and a head and a laterally extending locking lug on opposite ends of the shank, the head and the lug being disposed at opposite sides of the plane of the lid with the lug extending into the box adjacent to one flared wall but above the bottom thereof when the lid is closed, an elevated hollow boss on the plate nearone edge thereof, including an aperture and a, lower inclined face to be swept by the locking lug when the lug is inserted through the aperture and rotated upon closing, of the lid upon the box, said inclined face being spaced from the box bottom by reason of the elevated location of the hollow boss of the plate, thereby disposing the complementary parts of the locking mechanism to a region of the box where manipulation thereof is free and unobstructed.

3. In aservice fixture of the class described,

the combination which comprises a box having a bottom and upwardly and outwardly flared walls extending therefrom whereby the top portion of the box is rendered progressively more spacious than the bottom portion thereof, a replaceable lock plate removably fixed within the box in the region of the less spacious portion thereof at and upon the bottom of the box, a movable lid having an edge hinged to the box for closing the top of the box, and locking means for the lid disposed adjacent to an opposed edge of the lid and including a rotatable shank extending transversely through the lid, and a head and a laterally extending locking lug on opposite ends of the shank,

the head and the lug being disposed at opposite sides of the plane of the lid, with the lug extending into the box but above the bottom thereof when the lid is closed, an elevated hollow boss on the plate near one edge thereof to-align with the locking shank when the lid is closed upon the box, said boss being apertured in keyhole fashion to receive therein the shank and the lug of the locking means, the shank-receiving portion of said aperture being sized to provide a bearing located 01f to one side of the plate for supporting the shank when rotated therein, the interior of the hollow boss having an elevated progressively inclined face to be swept by the locking lug as said lug is moved with the rotatable shank of the locking means after having been inserted through the boss aperture incident to closing of the lid upon the box.

THOMAS E. BART. 

